Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ends Republican presidential bid

Scott Walker is set to drop out of the presidential race Monday night, a source close to the campaign confirms to NBC News. He is scheduled to hold a press conference in Madison, Wisconsin, at 6pm ET to announce his exit from the race.
USA TODAY

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker pauses as he speaks at a news conference on Sept. 21, 2015, in Madison, Wis., where he announced that he is suspending his Republican presidential campaign(Photo: Morry Gash, AP)

WASHINGTON — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced Monday that he is dropping out of the presidential race so that voters can focus on a smaller number of candidates and a "positive, conservative" alternative to current Republican front-runner Donald Trump can rise to the top.

"This is fundamentally important to the future of the party, and more importantly to the future of our country," he said at a press conference in Madison, Wis.

Walker said debate among Republicans had shifted to personal attacks and away from the basic conservative principles of limited government and a strong military, which he urged the party to put front and center in the GOP presidential race.

"These ideas will help us win the election next fall, and more importantly, these ideas will make our country great again," he said. "To refocus the debate on these types of issues will require leadership."

Walker encouraged others in the Republican field, which now stands at 15 candidates with his departure, to consider dropping out of the race as well so that more voters could coalesce around a viable candidate.

Walker has had trouble raising money as his support in polls has tanked in the past two months, and his announcement comes one day after he registered his lowest support yet in a national poll. A CNN/ORC survey released Sunday found Walker was backed by less than 0.5% of those surveyed — statistically zero. That's down from 5% a few weeks earlier.

Walker's performance in the second Republican presidential debate last week was also widely criticized as lackluster, further hobbling his already faltering campaign.

Before the debate, a cadre of Walker supporters in his home state of Wisconsin urged the governor to be more genuine. They said he had modified his positions on issues to score political points, which undercut the very basis of his campaign -- that he was unintimidated by political fallout.

The Wisconsin governor was one of five presidential candidates to draw early attention from the expansive political network controlled by the billionaire industrialists Charles Koch and David Koch. James Davis, a spokesman for the Koch-affiliated Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, praised Walker on Monday, but made it clear that the network has yet to settle on a Republican contender and may not do so.

“Gov. Walker has done some great things within his state,” Davis told USA TODAY. “He’s got a bright future in front of him.”

“We as a network are looking for individual candidates that have an optimistic message and support free-market reforms,” he added. “There are a number of candidates in the race that are talking about key issues that concern Americans.”

Stanley Hubbard, a Minnesota broadcasting magnate who was a top Walker contributor and is among the donors to the Koch network, said he’s disappointed that Walker failed to break through on the national stage.

Hubbard said the two have not spoken in recent days. He called Walker on Friday but had not heard back. “I imagine he was doing some soul-searching,” he said.

Despite his long-time support of Walker, Hubbard said he had donated to four other candidates whom he felt had strong debate performances last week: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. He said he no plans to settle on a single candidate anytime soon.

“I’m looking for a robust debate,” he said. “We’ll see who rises to the top.”

In Wisconsin, longtime Walker supporters said they were surprised that Republicans elsewhere didn't take to the governor's message.

"I'm just saddened because I was really rooting for him," said Rohn Bishop, treasurer of the Fond du Lac County Republican Party who helped Walker in his gubernatorial election in 2010, the recall election in 2012 and his re-election last year. "I'm a bit shocked that he went from front-runner to out of the race in three months."

Walker only announced his candidacy in July. At the time, he had led polls in Iowa for months and had double-digit support in national polls.

Mary Kay Baum joins hundreds of labor union members and supporters at a rally to protest Walker's collective bargaining measures on Aug. 25, 2011, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. John Hart, Wisconsin State Journal, via AP

Walker is fitted with a head covering by members of the Sikh community as he prepares to worship with them at the Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin on Aug. 6, 2012, in Brookfield, Wis. M. Spencer Green, AP

Walker speaks with Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, as she sits with her grandson at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 30, 2012. Jeff Franko, USA TODAY

Walker, center, top, poses for photo with a group of Green Bay Preble High School students after a campaign rally at K.I. Inc. in Green Bay Wis., on Nov. 3, 2014. Michael Sears, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, via AP

Walker takes the wheel alongside former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore, center, and former Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich during a fundraiser for the Belknap County Republican Committee aboard the motor vessel Mount Washington on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire on May 29, 2015. Charles Krupa, AP

Walker shakes hands with an audience member who was at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing, Mich., to hear him speak during a lunch hosted by the Ingham County Republican Party on May 4, 2015. Dave Wasinger, AP